The Anomaly
by Eric the Chee
Summary: Xanders visions are getting stronger. And now his powers are growing, the Ellimist has arrived on the scene.
1. One

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs, it belongs to K.A. Applegate, and whoever else. You know the deal.

One

I lay there in suspended animation.

I felt myself floating.

The bear was melting. Old grizzly bear, my friend. good old bear.

I demorphed.

I was Rachel again, the human Rachel, alive, unhurt. I could have bounded up and gone off to the mall to shop. But I didn't kid myself. I didn't hope.

I spit the snake out.

I was surrounded on all sides. I was only a weak human girl now. The polar bear loomed over me, his strength the equal of my own grizzly, but now I was just me, just Rachel.

I could see the viewscreen. I could see my best friend, Cassie. Jake. Marco, funny Marco. Ax.

Tobias.

He had morphed. He was his human self once more. He'd done that for me. And because he was crying. I understood. Humans cry, hawks don't.

"I love you," I said to the screen.

And, oh, god, how could so much regret and so much sweetness and so much sadness all be present in that single moment. I was already dead and missing my unlived life. I was already dead and Tobias was mourning.

I tried to smile. For him.

The polar bear said, You fight well, human.

Then he killed me with a single blow.

Time stopped.

He came to me. The Ellimist.

The puppet master come to watch my final act. it figured. He was in his saintly old man guise. As fake as everything else about him. The all-powerful weakling. The mighty manipulator.

"Ellimist," I spat.

"Yes?"

"Answer me something." I raged. "Was all of this worth it? The pain, the despair, the fear. The horror of the violence we suffered, and the violence we caused? Was it all worth it?"

"Rachel, I cannot answer that. The battle is not over." He had used my name. I don't think the Ellimist had ever called any of us by our names before.

But still, it really peeved me. How could he not know? This was a stupid game, between him and that disgusting filth, Crayak. There had to be some clue!

"You." I said accusingly.

"Yes."

"Who are you?" I demanded. "Who are you to play games with us? You appear, you disappear, you play games with us, you use us, who are you, what are you? I deserve an answer."

"Yes," he said yet again, calmly. "You do. To this question, I will give all the answer I know. And when you know me, you will ask another question. And I will answer that question, too. And then . . . "

His voice faded off. I knew what that meant. And then, I would die. I would never set foot on Earth again. I would never see the Animorphs again. I would die.

Then, for what seemed like a very long time, the Ellimist told me. I saw who this creature was. What he was. I understood.

But I also knew he would not save me. That he couldn't under the arcane rules of his millennia-long war with Crayak.

The Ellimist, or Toomin, was there to honour me, and I guess that was nice of him. Wasn't going to help me much.

"Now you know who I am, what I am." he said softly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah," I sighed. "You were a kid. Like me in some ways, a kid who got in too deep and couldn't get back out."

"A kid."

"You were trapped. You still are. I've been trapped."

"Yes."

I thought for a moment. "Was I one of your game pieces? Were all six of us just game pieces?"

That made him stop and think. Eventually, he answered. "I did not cause you to be one of the six. You are . . . you were . . . a happy accident. An unwitting contribution from the human race to its own survival."

I was silent. I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment, no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know.

"You said I could ask one more question."

"Yes."

"I can't ask if we win, I can't ask if it will all turn out okay."

"I don't know those answers."

"Okay, then answer me this, Ellimist. Did I . . . did I make a difference? My life, and my . . . my death . . . was I worth it? Did my life really matter?"

"Yes," he said. "You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered."

"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay then."

I wondered if -

A feminine voice interrupted my thoughts. "Oh, how touching, Toomin. I think I may need a tissue."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yep, I added a few more things. Its still got the main storyline going, with Xander as an anomaly, but I needed to add a few more things to explain the One. And yep, this chapter is basically just a mixture of The Beginning, and the Ellimist Chronicles, but my story starts next chapter. R&R, and read on!


	2. Two

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs, it belongs to K.A. Applegate, and whoever else. You know the deal.

Two

My name is Alexander Chambers. There you go. Even though it is pretty cliched, I stuck with the tradition. I am the only person ever, besides the Animorphs, to have ever read those documents. The Animorph diaries. And since what you're about to hear is along those lines, I thought that might be the best way to start off.

And why have I read the Animorphs diaries? Because my mother is Cassandra Chambers, zoologist and protector of the now thriving Hork-Bajir colony. Yeah, she's that Cassandra. Cassie the Animorph.

For the fifteen years I've been alive, I've been the centre of attention with most people I meet. Not that I mind at all. I absolutely love it. I've lived all over the world, travelling with my parents. Until they split up.

I wasn't too devastated. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was upset at first, but after a lot of thought, I realised that it wouldn't have been right for them to stay together. Mom's soulmate was killed long ago, somewhere in space, and Dad's soulmate . . . well, I dunno, but whoever it is, it sure isn't Mom.

I haven't seen either of them for a few months. Dad's gone back to New York, where he grew up, and Mom is on some island off the east coast of Australia.

I'm staying in Sydney at the moment, with an . . . old friend of Mom's. An aboriginal man named Yami Carter. Long story there. It's an Animorph thing.

It was strange. Mom doesn't normally take up an expedition too quickly. I remember exactly when it happened.

It was about four months ago. I can tell you the exact time it happened. Saturday evening, June 25th, 6:37pm, 2022.

I was at home, relaxing. You know, what any normal American guy would be doing on the weekend. Sleeping and eating. And watching television.

Then the phone rang. Right in the middle, may I say, of my fave program, re-runs of that old show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a real nice bag of potato chips.

Mom had disappeared somewhere, so I picked it up.

"Hey. Xander here." I greeted whoever was on the other end. Everyone one who knows me calls me Xander. And yeah, I got it off Buffy.

"Hey, Xander, it's Erek. Is your mother there?"

"Sure Erek. I'll just find her."

Erek King is an old friend of Mom's. Nobody but me knows how, but he was involved in the war. A Chee, an alien android. Mom didn't talk about the war much. The two of kept in touch a fair bit. And I had met him a few times.

"Mom, Mr. King's on the phone!" I yelled, since I didn't know where she was and really couldn't be bothered walking around looking for her.

"Erek?" She emerged from the basement door pretty darn quick. Erek had played a pretty important part in the war, including the final battle. She was always quick to talk to him.

I passed her the phone. She looked at me, and with that one simple look, told me to leave the room. 

"Fine, I'll go," I muttered. But instead of leaving the room completely, I just walked around the hallway wall. That way, I could here everything Mom said.

"Hey, Erek. Anything wrong?" I heard my mother ask.

There was a long pause.

"What? That's . . . impossible. But how?"

Another pause.

"It's . . . no. . . impossible. Jake? Anything about the others?"

Jake, leader of the Animorphs and my mothers soulmate, left Earth eighteen years ago with his fellow surviving male Animorphs, Marco and Tobias, as well as two other soldiers on an unknown mission into space. Well, unknown to everyone but me, mom, and Erek. He left to rescue the Great Prince Aximili, who had been taken by Yeerks. In a stolen Yeerk vessel.

"Right. I'll leave tonight. See you in a couple of days."

I heard her hang up the phone and begin to walk toward the hallway.

Oh, crap! I thought, and tried to run without her hearing me. I made it into my room just in time. As I flopped on my bed, trying to look natural, my mom knocked on the door.

"Come on in," I said, trying to sound casual.

She opened the door almost timidly, stepped in, and sat on the end of my bed. She said nothing, and stared my white wall.

"Mom?" I asked after a while.

"Oh, sorry," she snapped out of her thoughts. "Uh, honey, I have some news. I have to go on a really important trip. Which means you'll have to move again."

For some reason, everybody seemed to think that I would hate moving all the time. I loved it! The constant change was great.

She smiled at me and looked me in the eyes. "And by the way, if you're going to try and listen in on my conversations, try to be a little quieter next time.

"Oh crap." I looked at her.

Mom laughed, and then smiled at me. "Yeah, crap all right. Anyway, we have to go to Australia. As you probably heard, it's about . . . some more old friends. You'll have to stay-"

FLASH!

I was in a black space. I was floating, surrounded by countless strange white lines. They were so close, I felt I could reach out and touch them. So, of course, being the type of person I am, I tried.

I reached for a random line. But suddenly, before I could touch it, it turned gold, and another silver. They were mainly straight, like most of the others. But they were intertwined with four other lines. Eventually, one of the white lines stopped. Ended completely. They all slowly spread apart, until, suddenly, the gold one and three of the others twisted around, intertwined again, and flew off in the direction the had come from, and beyond. Only one continued forward. These lines, they were the Animorphs. And the silver line, somehow, I knew it. It was Cassie, my mom. I also knew the name of the gold line. It was him. The world's greatest known man. Jake Berenson.

"Jake!" I cried. The words just slipped out of my mouth.

My mother leapt off the bed, a shocked and horrified look on her face. "What . . . what did you just say?"

I didn't understand what I had just seen, but I had a really strong feeling that I would soon find out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few words changed here, but again, the basic storyline is here. R&R!! PLZ!!


	3. Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs, it belongs to K.A. Applegate, and whoever else. You know the deal.

Three

All this happened about the time the dreams began. They were so vivid, so realistic. But . . . I didn't understand them. Especially the last one. I mean, what he said to me, I just . . . didn't understand. Besides, he was a magpie! And I'm fifteen! I don't want the sort of responsibilitya destiny brings! Wholey, that didn't make any sense at all, did it? Look, let me start again, right from the first dream. It came probably a month ago.

I stood before a dark green jungle. Huge vines wrapped around enormous tree trunks, and a thick coat of moss and lush green bushes covered the floor.

Somehow, I knew this place. I had been in this jungle for a long time. Many years, in fact.

As I looked around, examining my surroundings, I saw the small stream before me. Beautiful, fresh water.

I realised that I was parched, and desperately needed something to drink. So I leant down toward the shallow, beautifully clear water, and it trickled into my cupped hands. But as I did, I saw my reflected face. Instead of my normally smooth, naturally tanned looking skin, I saw brown skin, tanned by years of sun. There was a short growth of stubble over my normally smooth face. And my shortish black hair, normally bleached with blonde streaks was a light brown, shoulder length, and also obviously lightened by the sun. But still, it all seemed so natural.

It was strange. It was like . . . like I was still myself, but at the same time, I was this rugged man. But still, it seemed normal.

I stood, and observed my surroundings once more.

The colony. I need to find the colony. The others were there, waiting. I had to check in and tell them what I had seen.

Wait. The colony? And what had I seen?

Suddenly, my mind began to conjure up the image of a small bird. A Peregrine Falcon.

And I began to shrink. After so many years of practise, it didn't take me long to morph into these old forms.

I fell at an amazing speed toward the ground. I could almost, but not quite, feel my internal organs twisting and deforming. My bones became hollow, and I felt light. After just fifteen seconds, I looked like a plucked chicken. SPROOT! SPROOT! Hundreds of feathers popped out of my bare skin, and I was the falcon.

Now, to the colony.

I flapped my wings, and tried to get air. Nothing. The canopy above me restricted the light filtering in, but there was nothing on the ground to create any decent thermals anyway. Stupid of me to morph bird. What was with my head suddenly?

I reversed the morph.

Right. I was human again. I needed a particular morph to get back to the others. I closed my eyes, and concentrated on Dak's body.

My legs stretched, as I grew taller. I was now seven feet tall. My skin turned a brownish-green, and became pebbly. POP! POP! Two stalk eyes popped out of my head, and my backbone stretched as it grew into a long, muscular tail. And the long scythe blade slid out of the end. My blades flew out of my skin, on my arms, wrists, legs, knees, and head. Then they retracted back into their usual position, under the skin. Then came the wings. They exploded out of my back, a seven foot wingspan, then curled back onto my back. The morph was complete. I was a huge, rippling, Hork-Bajir.

Crouching, I aimed my arms upward. And . . .

Go!

I sprung upward, as the coiled power in my legs released, and I flew straight toward the top of the huge trees. I released my arm blades, and dug them deeply into the side of one of the trees, about halfway up. With the skill of a . . . well, a Hork-Bajir, I swung upward from branch to branch, until I reached the canopy. Then beyond it. Through it.

Peering far, with the binocular eyes, I saw it. The tallest tree on the island. It indicated where the colony was. I climbed to the highest branch that supported my weight. And leapt out onto nothingness.

WHOOSH! An automatic reaction, my wings flew out, and the wind caught beneath them.

"WHOO-HOO!" I cried in the strangely clear Hork-Bajir voice. I loved gliding as a Hork-Bajir. It was so much better than flying as a bird! This morph was of my favourites now. I spilled the air carefully out of my wings, as I had learned to do over the years I've spent in this morph.

Wait. The years I've spent in this morph? I'd almost lost myself, forgetting that I was still here. The second mind had almost taken control.

Whoa! I began falling toward the earth. Stupid! I had lost the other mind. But wait. It was still there. I closed my eyes, relaxing. Willing myself to fade away, and let the other human mind take control again.

My eyes opened. What just happened? I had lost control of myself momentarily. It was strange. I had felt another presence in my head, and it had taken over.

Ignore it, I told myself. You have to get back and tell the others what you've seen.

After a few more minutes of the amazing gliding, I saw the tree before me.

The glorious colony.

I lined myself up with the landing platform, concealed by debris from the jungle floor. Funny, when Aldrea first ordered her men to hide the platform, and set up the hologram around the colony, I had simply laughed.

Why bother, I had thought. We're the only ones trapped here on this tropical island.

But after what I had just seen, I wasn't so sure. Although, I'm not exactly sure what it was . . .

I landed almost silently, and tucked my winds up on my back again, then climbed down using my blades.

Once at the bottom, I saw one of the Hork-Bajir run to me. Aldrea. Strange how different these Hork-Bajir are to the ones we fought and protected for so long. But there was still so much to remind one of our old friends back home. "Thank goodness you are back, Jake. Tobias and Marco have been worried sick about you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A little note, in case you didn't catch on. The extra spacing in some parts was to separate the two minds, and what they were both thinking at the same time.


	4. Four

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs, it belongs to K.A. Applegate, and whoever else. You know the deal.

Four

I won't go into bore you about the other dreams. They were even more confusing than that one. I'll skip straight to the last one, cos it's pretty important to what has happened.

Alex.

I sat up from my sleep I had suddenly fallen into as I heard someone say my name. It was the same day as Mom had told me she had to go away.

My eyelids slowly opened and I saw a small grey and black bird sitting outside my window. A pigeon. From what I understand, they're pretty common here in Australia. It was tapping its beak softly against the glass.

"Hey, little buddy," I cooed as I opened my window, knowing full well that it would probably take off. But, to my surprise, the pigeon jumped off the sill, and onto my bed.

"Um, okay . . ." I said to myself.

Alex, it spoke again. Wholey, a bird had just spoken to me. Then, I realised that this was thought-speak, the language of someone in morph. Was this an Andalite?

"Excuse me? Who are you?" I demanded.

You can call me Ellimist, he answered in a calm 'voice'. You know who I am, do you not?

"Oh my god . . ." I gasped.

Good, so you have heard of me, strange one. That will save a lot of time. the little bird said.

Strange one? What was that meant to mean?

It is almost time for you to fulfil your destiny, Ellimist elaborated.

"My destiny?" I'd heard about this guy. And from what I'd heard, he tended to use people for his 'games'. The mighty manipulator who never interfered, yet played with the lives of whole species.

Yes. Now, we need to get things clear very quickly. You know the special ability your mother has?

I was about to answer, when he interrupted.

No, not the morphing ability.

Oh.

I was about to try again, when he interrupted me once more.

Your mother is an anomaly.

Oh, yeah. That.

"So? What's that got to do to me?" Yeah, stupid of me to question an almost all-powerful being, but it's this stupid habit I have. I tend to see how far I can push a person. Besides that, I'm pretty much a nice person. But from what the Animorph diaries say, it was a necessity to question the Ellimist. He was untrustworthy.

You now have that ability. You, too, are an anomaly. But, unplanned, your powers are much stronger than your mothers. Cool. Suited me. Is that a good thing though? An untrustworthy anomaly could be very dangerous.

Ah, I got it. He was testing me, too.

"What do you want from me, Ellimist?" I demanded, ignoring the comment. "What do you have planned for me?"

You will find out. When the time is right. Soon.

Suddenly, there was a loud rap at my door, and the pigeon shimmered, then disappeared.

"Huh?" I groaned, sitting up. I had drifted off to sleep. And had yet another one of those weird dreams. All of the others hadn't been like that one. All of the others had involved me as some jungle man, living with a bunch of Andalite-cross-Hork-Bajir in the middle of the jungle. I told you, confusing.

Yami stuck his head around my door.

"Xander?"

"Yeah, I'm here," I said in a groggy voice.

"I just got an e-mail from your mum," he said in his funny australian accent. "You'll have to log back on, since I just got disconnected. Go have a look."

I slowly sat up, shaking the sleep off me, and walked into the office.

After reconnecting, opening my e-mail account, and finally finding the e-mail, I opened it.

Re: good news.

hey yami. it's cass. listen, this is pretty important. i need alexander here at the dig. as in, really soon. ive booked the flight, etc. he'll have 2 leave sydney 2nite. i cant say y til he gets here. tell him i love him, and Ill c him soon. cass

Ooookay. So that almost made no sense. It obviously had something to do with the Animorphs, from what I'd overheard the other night.

I thought about the dream.

Maybe this was it. Maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe this was it. This was what Ellimist was talking about so cryptically. My destiny. It was about to begin.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Not too long, or interesting, but it was needed to explain things a bit later on.


	5. Five

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs, it belongs to K.A. Applegate, and whoever else. You know the deal.

Five

I had made it to the island okay. Long story short: it was boring. In case you haven't figured yet, I don't like going into detail about things.

I caught a travel craft from the airport out to the island. A travel craft is kind of like a weaponless Bug fighter, used for flying small distances. I had to wait at the 'customs' tent, where my luggage was checked right through, and I had to walk through Corinth device (Andalite technology), a sort of x-ray machine, so that they could tell I was totally clean.

Why bother? I hear you ask. Hey, just because the Yeerks were chased off Earth doesn't mean they were destroyed. I mean, the Yeerk Homeworld is still covered in the slugs, and, as far as I know, the Hork-Bajir Homeworld is still writhing with them.

Yeah, so that took the good part of an hour, but once it was over, I was told that my mother was outside waiting for me. And there she was, right outside the tent.

"Hey, sweetie!" she cried, breaking into a grin.

"Hey, Mom," I smiled back, and ran toward her, grabbing her in a tight hug. Yeah, it'd only been a few months, but my mother and I are pretty close.

"I have so much to fill you in on," she said. "I know you love to see all of this stuff, and this is sort of special."

She was kidding, right? We'd just been reunited after almost six months, for a few seconds, and she wanted to take me straight to the dig?

I guess she saw the look on my face, because she immediately apologised. "Sorry, honey, but this is really important. You don't mind catching up later, right?"

"I guess not," I muttered.

The site was nothing special. It just looked like a few rocks scattered around a clearing, with a row of trees surrounding the area in a square. It didn't look like much at all, except the fact that two Earth Council agents stood just outside the clearing.

Yeah, you heard right. They stood there, arms crossed, looking like they'd just stepped out of a movie. They wore black trousers, with a black jacket over a white shirt. A pair of black sunglasses and a shredder hanging off their belts topped it all off.

Mom and I stepped up to them. They glanced at her, as she walked straight over to them. She flashed some sort of card. "Hey, boys. This is my son, Alexander."

"It's just Xander, Mom," I said for the millionth time.

They nodded their heads, and we walked between them. But after just a few metres, mom stopped and turned to me. "Alexan - I mean, Xander, you're about to see something pretty amazing."

I looked around at the rocks. "Yeah, I bet."

"Just don't say I didn't warn you," she laughed, and stepped into the clearing.

She was gone. She had stepped into nothingness.

"Mom?" I called cautiously. No answer. "Mom?"

"You coming or not?" She scared the crap out of me, as her head seemed to pop out of thin air!

"Uh, sure." I stepped toward where she has disappeared. I'd never actually seen a hologram in work before. "Wholey!"

'Wholey' was just about the only word for it.

Before me was a small stone . . . castle?

All around me, there were people working; digging through dirt, sketching pictures, sorting out objects.

"Mom, what the hell is all of this . . . ?" I whispered. Don't ask why.

"This is . . . or was . . . a colony. It had humans living here, but also an unidentified, until recently, alien species. Its about sixty million years old." she explained. Sixty million? Humans hadn't even evolved then! "But here comes someone who can explain things more clearly than I can."

Walking toward me was a man, about mom's age. He had brown hair, and was pretty fit looking. I knew this guy. Erek King.

"Hey Xander," he said in his strong voice. "Wow, you've grown."

"Hey, no offence, but stuff the small talk. What the hell is this place?"

"Come inside, and I'll explain things more clearly." He guided me into the building. It was kind of dark inside, but nothing special. It looked pretty normal for an ancient building. I guess he saw my expression, because he said "Yeah, nothing special, right? Just wait until you get to the next room."

Once again, he guided through the place, until I reached another room. Or garage, I should say. In the center of the room was a ship. Beautiful, but dangerous looking. It sat right in the centre of the room, dormant and dust covered. Vines that had grown in from the outside had began to cover it. But even from where I was, I could see that it was badly damaged.

"Whoa," I repeated.

"That, Xander, is the Rachel, a Yeerk vessel."

"Yeerk? On Earth? But that thing is millions of years old!"

"It's a long story, and could take a little while to explain," he said.

While he was saying that, I reached out to touch the beautiful craft. But before I got a chance to:

FLASH!


	6. Six

Disclaimer: I do not own Animorphs, it belongs to K.A. Applegate, and whoever else. You know the deal.

Six

Huh? It was another dream. Great. Back in the real world, I had probably fallen over, and hit my head. Great.

I was in that place again. The place with all the lines. But this time, there were others there. Ellimist, in a human guise, was here. And an elfin lady. But I seemed to be the only one that noticed her.

The biggest surprise was that she was there. I had seen so many pictures of her, but nothing was like the real thing. She was more beautiful than anybody had ever said she was. Her long blond hair flowing behind her, Rachel Berenson was talking with Ellimist.

The Ellimist was talking. "I did not cause you to be one of the six. You are . . . you were . . . a happy accident. An unwitting contribution from the human race to its own survival."

They were both silent for a while. Until Rachel spoke. "You said I could ask one more question."

"Yes."

"I can't ask if we win, I can't ask if it will all turn out okay."

"I don't know those answers."

"Okay, then answer me this, Ellimist. Did I . . . did I make a difference? My life, and my . . . my death . . . was I worth it? Did my life really matter?"

"Yes," he said. "You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered."

"Yeah. Okay, then. Okay then."

I watched her timeline, as it faded, and began curling away.

But suddenly, it stopped, as the elfin woman finally spoke. "Oh, how touching, Toomin. I think I may need a tissue."

Ellimist spun around, and faced the woman.

"You." Wow, he didn't sound like he particularly liked her.

"Long time, so see, hey Toomin? Well, not really. What, a couple of million years? Wow, time flies when you're immortal being, doesn't it?" She burst out laughing in a beautifully soft voice. "Just kidding, Toomin. Whoa, lighten up, will you? Now, I believe we had a deal, did we not?"

The Ellimist began to change, almost like a smooth morph. He changed from his human guise, to what I believe is called a Ketran. How did I know that? This place was filling my head with stuff.

"Yes, One, I believe we did. A game. Although it may have to wait. I am still completing my game with Crayak.

The woman, One, let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you serious? It's been so long!"

Ellimist gave her a hard look. "Yes, and it is nowhere near complete, Father."

"Toomin! You know I hate that name. I am no longer that useless sponge."

"No, now you're a dangerous sponge. You still absorb innocent creatures. And I no longer care what you prefer to be named, you filthy beast."

Ouch.

"Well," she said, ignoring his comment. "How much longer do you think this silly game will continue?"

"As I said, it is nowhere near completed. This game is quite complex, involving quite a few species. Although this one stage, if played correctly, is almost complete. My Animorphs have almost defeated Crayaks Yeerks. I just have to watch my step carefully."

"Your Animorphs?" the One smiled. "My Toomin. Is that sentimentality speaking? Have you gotten attached to your pawns? I see there is still a little of that Ketran I once knew in there somewhere."

"You never knew me One. You took me, and my friends, killed them all, killed Aguella. But I defeated you, One, and I escaped with Aguellas data. And that had taught me not to ever become attached. So no, these pawns are the same as any others to me."

The One distorted her beautiful face, and looked truly evil. "And yet, I got little Aguella back. I got her, and you, and your others, from that black hole. And she is with me again."

"You have her form, and that is all."

"Fine, Toomin. I've lost interested with this little argument anyway. I don't care about your Aguella, or your Animorphs. I care only about my game. I refuse to wait any longer. Wrap up this stage, and I'll be back. I can take care of Crayak, and put your game on hold. I'll be back very soon."

Ellimist began to protest. "Shut it, Toomin. I'm taking this human with me, to make sure you come through on our deal. If you truly are sentimental about them, as I suspect you are, you won't do anything stupid."

She reached out and grabbed Rachels shimmering, curling, timeline with a single hand, and pulled it somewhere inside of her.

"See you soon, Toomin." she said, blowing a kiss and shimmering out.


End file.
